1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to multi-well vessels and, more particularly, to multi-well vessels, such as microtiter plates, with integral heaters.
2. Background Art
Multi-well vessels, such as microtiter plates, are used for storage, processing and testing of biological and chemical samples in the pharmaceutical industry, for example. In many instances, a temperature controlled environment is required to preserve compound integrity or to conduct experiments where temperature is a controlled parameter. It is often desirable to position heating and/or cooling elements close to the samples in order to efficiently control the temperature in the multi-well vessel in a quick an uniform manner.
A typical approach is to provide a cooled or heated metal block, such as aluminum, in contact with a thin-walled plastic microtiter plate. However, the plate-to-block fit is typically inconsistent, which results in inconsistent heating and cooling. Also, the typically large thermal mass of the metal block causes undesirable effects such as temperature non-uniformity between samples. The large thermal mass of the metal block also limits the speed, or response time, at which the samples can be thermally cycled.
What is needed is a method and system for quickly, uniformly, and consistently controlling temperature in multi-well vessels.